


5 Times Tony had Too Much Money and One Time Peter Did

by AnotherAoife



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Peter is a Little Shit, Pre-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Vine mentions, alexa play decpasito, because honestly i'm a gen z, both ironic and genuine, bruce banner is kind to us all, from getting beat up, i can't tag things for shit, i was sad when i wrote it, mentions of transphobia, oh shit theres swearing, peter saves him, peters at midtown on a scholarship, please read this i need reassurance, there will probably be dabbing, theres a trans kid, this is my first fic yeet, uhhh what else, will update tags as i go on
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2019-05-31 08:34:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15115712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherAoife/pseuds/AnotherAoife
Summary: Peter has always known that he didn't have quite as much money as the other kids, but he had love, food and a roof over his head. After Ben's death money got a little tighter.Aka: Five Times Tony Surprised Peter With His Wealth and One Time Peter Surprised Him Back





	1. One: With A Phone

**One**

 

Peter was 11 when he realised he didn’t have as much money as the other kids. He knew it could be a lot worse, of course it could. He had a roof over his head and food in his stomach. He had his own bedroom, he and Ben had converted it from an office themselves. He felt loved, of course he did. He was surrounded by love every single day, but he couldn’t help notice how the smile always slipped from May’s face when she looked at the price tag or how they used a tattered, old baseball glove to play catch in the park or how Peter never got the bike he wanted on his birthday.

 

He didn’t ask for much, didn’t want to be even more a burden than he already thought he was. He understood that May and Ben didn’t ask for him. They hadn’t saved any money for school books or the newest xbox. Peter taught himself how to rebuild things using YouTube tutorials and WikiHow articles then sold his hard work on ebay for money to spend on food and clothes so Ben and May wouldn't have to buy anything for him. He wore his trainers until they were falling apart at the seams then got knew ones at a charity shop for $5. He didn’t want to give Ben and May any reasons to not want him.

 

Peter finally understood he didn’t have as much money as the other kids while he was at Ned’s house. They normally hung out at Ned’s. For one, it was an actual house and not an apartment and it had all the new tech Peter saw ads for inbetween episodes of Bill Nye. Ned’s family had a fridge that spat out ice and a tv the size of Peter’s arms stretched out as desperately wide as he could manage without snapping, but doubled.

 

Ned and Peter had been planning a sleepover at Peter's for weeks. Both May and Ben would be working on the night they chose (wow what a coincidence). Ned decided it wouldn't be a good idea to tell his Mami that. He was in Ned’s bedroom while Ned went to ask his mother if he could go to Peter’s apartment that night. Peter was laying on the floor with his ear to the crack between the door and the baby blue carpet that felt softer than his bed listening with all his might.

 

Ned’s mother said no without hesitating. When Ned asked why she said the neighbourhood Peter lived in was too ‘dangerous’. Peter was only 11 but even he understood that dangerous meant poor when he was in a house with these _too soft_ carpets and _mahogany_ doors. Ned came back in and Peter said he felt sick and had to go home.

  
  


Peter closed the cheap fake wood door of his bedroom and lay down on the scratchy second hand carpet. He looked up at his musty ceiling and felt the carpet scratching him through his supermarket shirt and dragging itself across his back like the claws of the monster living under his eyelids at night. Peter thought a lot that night but mostly he thought about how unfair it was that Ned got a soft carpet while Peter got one that made his back bleed after a night spent lying on it.

 

Life went on. Everything was mostly fine. Peter was loved and his makeshift family of 3 was happy in their ~~cramped~~ _cozy_ apartment. May worked extra shifts. Then Ben worked extra shifts. Then they both worked extra shifts at the same time and all Peter could do while they were gone was make dinner and set the table. 

 

But that was before the spider bite when Peter had the normal metabolism of a 13 year old boy. After the bite things got harder. There were more repairs around the house from times Peter forgot his own strength, like when he accidentally pulled of the handle of the fridge. That was a hard one to explain. The food bills started to go up and Peter’s weight just kept coming down, so Peter started to go to bed hungry. Then he’d skip breakfast and say he had a lunch in his empty lunch bag and never take seconds at the dinner table.

 

He’d eat as much as he could at Ned’s and eat all the food anyone offered him, ignoring the pity he could see in Ned’s eyes. Ned asked if he was okay a lot. Peter knew he should be grateful but it’s hard to be grateful for anything when you're so hungry, so lunches mostly ended with fights. That was, until Peter told Ned that May and Ben were having trouble with the food bills. It was a whispered confession at 2 am after a particularly loud rumble from Peter’s stomach but from then on Ned brought two very large lunches with him to school everyday and gave Peter his leftovers. Neither of them talked about it. Life was good again. Peter got a full-ride scholarship to a school Ned could easily afford tuition for and Ben bought them a new fridge to celebrate. He wanted to get Peter a phone but Peter insisted on a brand new fridge that made ice all by itself.  

 

Then Ben bled out in Peter’s arms on the street outside the bodega while Peter screamed and sobbed for help until his throat was raw. People clawed at his arms and screamed at him to give Ben space and all the lights were _so bright_ and all the sounds were _so loud_ and Peter passed out next to Ben after the paramedics got there. Peter left Ben _alone_ with them, _strangers._ What kind of nephew, _what kind of person_ could _do_ that _. It's all his fault. It's all his fault. It's all his fault. It's all his fault. It's all his **fault.**_

 

Sometimes Peter can still feel the blood underneath his nails and it scares him. Peter tried to focus all his grief on the pain of losing Ben but the bills were starting to pile up and Peter really missed Ben’s money as well as Ben. And he hated himself for it. They were still trying to pay off the funeral. Flowers were just so fucking _expensive_ apparently. It's not like they literally grow on trees or anything. Peter hugged May every morning when he left for school and every night incase he missed her the next morning. He never did let her go without a hug though. 

 

He started to take showers at school because the hot water was gone at home again. He asked Ned for tupperware containers full of food shamelessly becasue what does it matter anymore, what does anything matter anymore. Money was tighter than Peter had ever known it to be, and Peter still had all his freakish powers _(the ones that he didn't use to save Ben because he's a **coward** )_. He did tricks on the street like flips and anything else he thought was cool for people’s loose change. Doctors would ask for money if they were to go to the hospitals because God knows Peter doesn’t have health insurance. And then Spiderman happens and Tony stark shows up at Peter Parker’s door to whisk him of to Germany. Then the ferry and the vulture and shaking hands and new men in new nightmares and then the calm. Everything was done and Peter could just  _ be _  Spiderman.

 

 

 

It was a Friday the first time Mr. Stark really got a look into the problems Peter faced because, unfortunately, Peter  _ wasn’t _ an untouchable billionaire. It had been a long day at school. Decathlon practise went over time and Flash kept lightly kicking Peter under the table. Peter kicked him back of course which only led to a lot of bruised skin and bruised egos until MJ yelled at both of them, but mostly Flash, because MJ was good like that. 

 

Peter was in a hammock under a bridge watching, and quoting, vines on his phone. He had Karen scanning for anything he could intervene in. He was totally absorbed in his phone so when it started to ring he was startled into dropping it. 

 

“Shit, fuck oh shitshitshitshit!” yelled Peter as he watched his phone plummeted  into the river below him. He leaned over the edge of his hammock to try and web it back but, upon seeing the water, he retreated back inside as fast as he could. The hammock started to swing quickly because of all the jostling and Peter felt his heart start to beat out of his chest. 

 

“Deep, slow breaths Peter. It’s just a phone. You’re okay,” soothed Karen with her voice Peter had come to associate with safety.

 

Peter calmed down and sighed. Another phone gone. He knew there was no way in hell May would be able to pull together enough cash for a brand new phone again. He’d only had this one for three months and they were still a little behind on the rent. Peter would happily sacrifice his daily fix of instagram memes for a roof over his head, especially if May was involved. Peter frowned and started to swing to the park near his apartment to entertain any kids around. 

 

Peter had stopped to catch his breath on one of the building’s roofs and was just about to swing down when Karen’s voice rang out.

 

“Incoming call from Mr. Stark. Would you like to accept Peter?” 

 

“What? Oh yeah of course, thanks Karen” smiled Peter. May had instilled manners in him to the point of being kind to the artificial voice in his suit. 

 

Tony’s voice came through clear as day. “Peter? Are you okay? Your phone went off the map the second I called you then your heart snorted some coke. Did you throw it away or some stupid shi- thing like that?” Tony caught himself before swearing in front of the teen.

 

“Mr. Stark! Hey! Yeah, I- uh, I dropped the phone in the Hudson, but don’t worry it was an accident and I’m like, totally fine. Not that you’d, like, have to worry about me or anything. I don’t think that. Not that I think you wouldn’t care about me or anything! I think you’re a really nice guy and everything I just-”

 

Tony cut Peter of before he could continue rambling “That’s fine. So get a new phone soon, yeah kid? Happy’s gotten kind of attached. You’re like his puppy by now.” Tony laughed and went to hang up the call but Peter’s voice started up again. 

 

“Oh, umm, yeah I’ll try Mr. Stark but it could be a while. Me and May are a bit behind on rent and phones are pretty expensive nowadays so I don’t know when I’ll be able to get one. I’m real sorry Mr. Stark.” Peter’s cheeks went red under his mask. He wasn’t  _ ashamed  _ of his and May’s financial situation, it was just easier to talk about it to his best friend of over 10 years than it is to a famous billionaire philanthropist genius.

 

“Kid they’re like, what, $200 at most? Can’t you scrape that together?” 

 

Peter’s end of the line was silent. Tony paused. It hadn’t even occurred to him that someone might not just have that much money lying around. 

 

“Oh,” muttered Tony. "Shit kid I'm sorry I didn't mean to go all Billionaire on you"

 

“Yeah, it's- it's fine.” Peter replied, his face on fire. “I’m gonna go. Um … see you Mr. Stark.” Peter ended the call then stuck his head between his knees and groaned loudly. He kept himself busy for an hour and a half after that but the conversation replayed itself in his head over and over again. Peter only got more embarrassed over time. When he slinked into his apartment he was ready to just collapse into his bed but on the old and tattered sofa sat the man who he had been agonizing over for an hour and a half, Tony Stark.

 

Tony walked over to him with a box in hand. He held it out to Peter. Peter took it awkwardly.

 

“Top of the line Stark phone. Not even out on the market yet. I wanted you to test it out for me anyways, now it’s just a little early.” Tony started to walk towards the door. Peter looked at the phone in his hand then back at Mr. Stark. 

 

“Wait. Wait no. Mr. Stark, you know I can’t take this. It’s way more expensive than my old phone!” Peter gasped. He doubted that he’d ever seen something so expensive in his normal life, not to mention owned it.

 

“Keep it kid. It looks like your cutting off a body part to give it back. I don’t need it. I have an unlimited supply. I made it. It has my name on the box. See, right there” Tony pointed to the Stark logo then continued towards the door. 

 

Peter called out again. “Mr. Stark, I can’t, I don’t know how to, this is… thank you.” Tony flashed his press smile then left before May could get home.

 

  
  
  


Later that week board members called Tony frantically yelling about how some kid who revamped old tech on ebay was selling a Stark phone that wasn’t even on the market yet for a mere $200 and they had no idea how he got ahold of it. Tony said he’d take care of it. 

 

He texted Peter:  _  Up the price kid _

 

The phone sold for an insane $7000. May didn’t take the night shift again for a month and a half. Peter came to the lab to work with Tony on the suit again the next week with a $80 twice used phone.


	2. Two: With A Dinner

**Two**

 

Peter Parker didn’t think he was ever going to be the kind of person to be on first name basis with _The Tony Stark_ but Peter had finally stopped calling Mr. Stark _“The Tony Stark”_ in his head and Mr. Stark had finally accepted that Peter would be calling him Mr. Stark until one of them dies, because he’s Peter and Tony realised he can’t always predict Peter.

 

Peter doesn’t have a formula for Tony to use. Tony wouldn’t have predicted that Peter knew how to skateboard (Peter didn’t tell him that he only learnt because it was cheaper than everything else in the shop) and he definitely wouldn’t have predicted that Peter’s favourite Avenger wasn’t Thor, or even Iron Man, but _Bruce Banner._ Not the Hulk, a literal green ball of rage and muscle, but Dr. Bruce Banner, the man with seven PhDs and a love for tea unrivaled by anyone else in the tower.

 

When Tony casually name dropped Bruce while improving the wiring in an energy conserving coffee machine, Peter’s hands stopped moving and Tony thought he might have forgotten to breath for a few seconds.

 

“Bruce Banner, as in _the_ Bruce Banner?”

 

“No Pete, Bruce Banner the pizza guy,” Tony had smirked. Peter had talked non-stop about  Bruce and his research until he went home. Peter’s rambling reminded Tony of a time when Peter couldn’t get two sentences out in front of him, not to mention talk for hours about a different scientist ( _but it’s fine totally fine Tony Stark does not get jealous it’s fine everything is_ **_fine_** _)._ Peter says if he wanted anyone else to know he was Spiderman it would be Bruce and Tony doesn’t like the green eyed monster in his gut.

 

Tony had a meeting set up with Bruce later that week to discuss possible sedatives for The Hulk. It was in one of the most expensive restaurants  New York had to offer because, what could Tony say, he had the money and he had the style. Happy had dropped Tony on the street ten blocks down with a cap and a scarf. He said Tony needed to actually see the city he nearly died for so many times. Tony said that was bullshit because it was November and cold as balls outside. Happy had already driven away.

 

Tony set off walking down the street, nearly slipping on the November ice, mumbling about how heartless Happy was being for basically abandoning him in the middle of the winter. It would be his fault if Tony froze to death here, in the middle of the street, in his $379 jacket.

 

The cold nipped at his nose through the scarf. Tony pulled his coat collar up around his face and looked down at the floor. He walked hurriedly to the restaurant, keeping his eyes glued to the floor The street was less crowded than usual, due to the harsh weather. The ground was wet and full of trash, you could feel the bitterness in the air. People were quick and tired, everyone just wanted to be at home.

 

There was, despite the weather, a street performer. He was doing a one handed handstand while having a conversation with a little boy about whether bananas or apples were better. Tony figured he needed the money if he was out in this cold with only a ratty jumper and a tattered raincoat on so he dropped a  quick $100 bill into the tupperware box on the ground next to the performer then hurried along. Tony always did try to give to people on the street, when he had all the money he did it was nothing.

 

Tony continued on, he only had a few blocks to go, but someone seemed to be calling for him.

 

“Sir, sir excuse me! I don’t think you meant to give me this!” someone yelled from behind him. Tony turned around to wink and tell them to keep the cash but a few steps behind him, on the New York street stood Peter goddamn Parker in a yellow raincoat that looked like it had seen better days and a hat that was more hole than hat at this point.

 

“Woaw! Mr. Stark, what are you doing here?” smiled Peter. Tony just stared. What was Tony doing here? What was _Tony_ doing here? As if he was the one doing handstands in freezing weather for pocket change and not the one just walking down the street.

 

“Kid, what- what are you _doing_ out here?” asked Tony, looking around as if the answer would be around him then laughed. He started to walk again and beckoned Peter to follow him.

 

“Oh, yeah I just needed a quick way to get some cash. Don’t worry about it though, I have more than enough now. I was just trying to get enough for a coffee and a sandwich but nobody seems to be around today.” Peter rubbed his hand together and blew at them.

 

Tony was about to comment on how cheap a sandwich was when he caught himself. He didn’t want a repeat of last time.

 

“Come on kid, I was going to get some food anyways.” Tony saw the cogs turning in Peter’s head. On one hand he was starving and freezing his ass of in the cold. On the other, he didn’t want to impose on Tony’s meal.

 

“Pete, I’m inviting you. Come on, I’ve been meaning to take you to dinner to discuss your suit anyways.” Peter looked appeased with Tony’s reasoning and walked with him. When they got got to the restaurant Peter just kept walking.

 

“Pete, kid, we’re here,” laughed Tony. Peter turned around and his eyes widen. Tony laughed at the comic book face Peter had.

 

“Mr. Stark there’s a McDonalds down the street. I can’t afford this place,” Peter’s tired eyes travelled up and down the building. It seemed like it was made of gold. It didn’t even look like it needed lights inside, the gold was bright enough. Peter had heard about this place from one of MJ’s ‘educational’ lunchtime rants. They “hate poor people” according to MJ.

 

Peter was still shivering and Tony was getting worried that he might urn to ice if someone doesn’t get him inside.

“Kid, I’ll pay. I’m a _literal billionaire_. Please just come inside,” Tony whined. Peter nodded good naturedly and walked inside behind Tony.

 

Peter looked around him and gasped. The ceiling had chandeliers and Peter was pretty sure he saw diamonds. Anyone in this restaurant could probably buy his apartment and all his possessions 10 times over and it was making Peter scared.

 

 _“_ Wow,” Peter whispered. Tony looked at him and grinned.

 

“I know,” he whispered back, pulling off his half hearted disguise.  

 

Peter looked out of place and he knew it. He was wearing an old yellow raincoat full of holes and covered in dirt. His hat had tufts of greasy hair popping out of it. His fake converse were falling apart. He was wearing an old worn hoodie and jeans. Everyone else looked like they were at the met gala. They'd all probably attended it at some point.

 

Tony went to talk to a waitress to find his table, leaving Peter alone in the entrance room, or ‘foyer’ as a man in a stiff suit called it as he walked past with a woman in an equally stiff looking suit. People were shooting him dirty looks and waiters kept looking over at him.

 

Tony was walking back across the room to Peter when a manager approached the teen.

 

“Excuse me, if you can’t pay you must leave. Our policies don’t allow us to tolerate _walk-ins_ and I sincerely doubt you have, or ever will have, the cash to be in my establishment , _”_ the man spat at Peter.

 

Peter was shell shocked. He thought of May working her goddamn ass off everyday of her life to make sure they don’t live on the street and had to take a few deep breaths to not deck the guy in his smug face. He knew what people expected him to do, say sorry and leave, and on most other days he would but not today. He’d had a hellish day, full of rude strangers and dirty looks and he was tired of it.

 

Tony looked over and saw what was going on. He started walking over to give the man a piece of his mind and save Peter from him but instead, Peter started to talk.

 

“Okay sir, fuck you too. If you want to kick me out just fucking _say it_. Don’t hide behind your bullshit policies just tell me to fuck off.” Peter spoke quietly but he looked fierce. Tony was shocked. He’d never heard Peter talk to anyone rudely in all the time he had known him. Tony rushed in before the situation could escalate.

 

“I’m sorry, is there a _problem_ with my intern here?” Tony asked, sickly sweet. The man's face fell as he recognised Tony. He looked at Peter then at Tony then back at Peter. You could see the realisation in his eyes, like a lightbulb going of above his head.

 

“Mr. Stark? What? Oh no of course not, of course not, I’m so sorry, so so so sorry. Let me get you a complimentary wine, or two! I didn't realise you knew this fine gentleman here,” the man babbled.

 

“No, I think we’re leaving now,” Tony had gone from innocent to cold in seconds. He grabbed Peter’s arm and began to storm out.

“Like hell we are Tony. If me not being some rich dick makes them angry, then me leaving will make everyone in here more _comfortable_ in their dickery,” Peter had a glint in his eye and he was starting to smile. Tony was quiet as he thought about it. He looked around him at the chandeliers and snobby people turning their noses up at _~~his kid~~ Peter._

 

“Don’t swear kid,” he muttered and stormed back in.

 

Tony will have the memory of Peter’s face when he sees Bruce Banner sitting at the table in a threadbare cardigan ingrained in his mind until he dies (hopefully). Peter is still shivering when they sit down so Tony orders hot chocolates for the three of them.

 

Tony tells Bruce about all of Peter’s scientific achievements, including teaching himself how to build and rebuild StarkTech from the dumpsters in New York at age twelve. Tony goes on about how smart Peter is for at least 20 minutes until Peter is as red as a firetruck. Then he mentions casually that Peter is Spiderman and Peter is as red as a fire truck on fire Peter asks question after question and Bruce can only answer about half of them.

 

They order food of the menu and Peter looks ready to cry when he asks the prices. Bruce looks at Tony confused. Tony just shrugs and orders the most expensive thing on the menu to prove to Peter it doesn’t matter. Peter still gets the cheapest thing available.

 

Peter explained why he got so mad at the manager while their half way through their meal. 

 

"I just thought of May and how many shifts she'd have to work to get paid what he does for ordering around his servers for one hour and it made me so  _angry._ Like, just because i look like this he assumes I'm gonna steal all his shi- sorry, stuff. It's not fair. No shade to you though Mr. Stark. Or you Dr. Banner."

 

"Peter you know that I'm, a doctor as well," whined Tony.

 

"Oh yeah, sorry I forgot about that ... _Mr. Stark"_ Peter had grinned _._

 

Peter was still freezing cold even after Tony and Bruce have finished their food and Tony doesn’t understand how so he asks.

 

“Oh yeah, spiders can’t thermoregulate,” says Peter offhandedly, “Hey, is it illegal to take some of this gold stuff home for May?” he jokes. Tony is caught up on the fact that Peter can’t thermoregulate and didn’t tell him. He thought they were getting closer. His thoughts spirals _(this just proves Peter doesn’t trust you  you’re bad for him you’re bad for everyone)_  Tony stops himself from going any further down that rabbit hole. Damn. He didn't realise he had started to care about Peter so much. He knows that realistically those thoughts aren’t true Peter just has no sense of self-preservation.

 

Peter talks about memes for nearly 15 minutes. Tony laughs along and doesn’t get mad when he takes out his battered phone to show them his personal favourites.

 

“Mr. Stark in this world, it’s either yeet or be yeeted” Peter had said at one point. A teenager at the table next to them had to go to the bathroom because he was laughing so hard.

 

The bill comes and Tony doesn’t let Peter look at it.

 

Tony slips $50 into Peter’s coat pocket and Peter gets the train home. Bruce says he thinks Peter is one of the brightest minds he’s ever met. Tony says he is _the_ brightest, but he might be a little bit biased.

 

When Tony arrives home he makes a Tumblr account and starts to make memes. Later that night he donates $10,000 to a charity for disadvantaged kids in urban areas. Fancy title, Peter just calls himself a poor city rat. He signs the donation anonymously. Tony starts to send Peter memes on instagram whenever he can, which is entirely too often.

 

The next time he, Bruce and Peter go to McDonalds. Peter makes him promise to take May to the best McDonalds he can find. Tony does one better and pays in advance for $60,000 worth of food at Wholefoods. Peter says he bought an entire walnut at that overpriced hell ‘whole’ before all the credit was used up. Tony formats that joke into a meme and posts it on his new Tumblr.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried real hard to make it sound american but i'm irish so spare me
> 
> oh my lord every one was so lovely about the first chapter like what how i thought it would get one singuler comment and that said comment would be me posting tiny crying faces
> 
> you might notice my grammer is much worse when im not Writing with a capital w im sorry yeet
> 
> thank you so much too every one who said anything at all in any way shape or form you absolute gods


	3. Three: With His Apartment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Attack on a trans person

 

**Three**

 

Peter couldn’t really remember not living in this apartment. This was his home. He and Ben had painted the office walls blue when he moved in. May and him had carried his bed up the stairs. May had done most of the carrying, Peter had kind of just bounced around, talking about how cool New York would be.

 

This was the place where he had been so focused on his facetime with MJ he had accidentally set a slice of _bread_ on fire. This was the place where Ben once got so frightened by Peter sneaking up behind him he had thrown one of his tools at the wall so hard he dented it, the wall still had the dent and Peter nearly cried every time he saw it after Ben’s death.

 

This was the place Ned found out he was Spiderman. And May. And MJ. Peter was starting to think he should be more careful around the house. This apartment was his home. He knew he hadn’t always lived here, but the two story, three bedroom, suburban paradise he had lived in with his parents seemed like a fragment of his imagination. This apartment was where his heart was.

 

The neighbour three doors down was the one who had once tried to eat Peter’s pet goldfish while babysitting him (Peter babysat himself after that night), the young couple across the hall were the ones who screamed at each other for hours in Spanish then screamed at each other for hours in ecstacy (drugs or sex Peter didn’t know. MJ thought both, Ned thought neither). Peter loved all of it. This neighbourhood had helped raise him. He loved it and he loved the people in it. Except the rapists and murderers, those guys didn’t count.

 

In Peter’s “line of work” he met a hell of a lot of bad guys so he knew New York wasn’t all bright lights and concrete jungle. He knew that sometimes people beat up homeless men for their torn dollars. He knew sometimes Spider-Man had to stop people with knives from going into Drag Night.

 

On the days people threw trash at him or strangers cursed him, he felt as if the city were made up of jigsaw pieces that could never fit together. That they would eventually ruin the city, set everything on fire until eventually all that was left was a large pile of smouldering ash. This was one of those days.

 

Peter finished his patrols and had changed into his normal clothes. It was late in the evening, when the sun was fading out and the sunflowers were closing down for the night. Peter couldn’t look around without honey sunlight trickling into his eyes, so he kept his face pointed to the ground. It had been a quiet day, no one had the energy to commit crimes with weather like this. He was walking home with headphones in, listening to his third favourite album, thinking about how they could afford rent this month,when Karen’s voice came through his headphones.

 

“Peter, I am aware you are off-duty, but there seems to be an attack taking place in an alley two blocks west.”

 

Peter’s heart stopped. He didn’t have time to change into his suit and there was no way a gang of men would listen to him, a scrawny teenage boy in a huge science hoodie that made him look 12.

 

Peter didn’t know what to do, so he ran. But he didn’t run away, he ran towards the attack. He didn’t have to time to think of a game plan so he ran towards the fight. Tony would say he was stupid but if someone needed help they wouldn't agree. He sprinted faster than he thought he could manage. He felt his headphones fall out of his busted up phone and land on the ground. He kept running.

  


When he arrived at the scene he thought he might get sick. There was a teenage boy on the ground, surrounded by other teenage boys. They were shouting at the boy on the ground, these vile, unrepeatable things. Peter didn't know what to do. How could people say things like that? His hands were shaking, not from rage but from fear.

 

The kid on the ground looked scared. He was latino and Peter assumed he was trans from what the boys were shouting at him.

 

‘If only Spiderman were here,’ he thought grimly. Then he jumped into action.

 

“Hey!” he called out, trying to stop his voice from shaking. Peter had seen attacks like this before, he had stopped trans women from being raped and saved people from white supremacists following them but when he saved those people he was Spiderman, and he had never seen someone this _young._ The kid looked to be around 13.

 

“Get the fuck _away_ from him!” Peter cried out. The teenagers turned around to see what was going on. Peter thought MJ would be proud of him for using his words and not his fists. 

 

“Stay the _fuck_ out of this,” growled one of the boys. Peter had counted them. There were only four boys, but all of them were buff as hell. They probably played football and said ‘No Homo’ a lot. Spiderman could take them all on at once without breaking a sweat, but Peter wasn’t Spiderman right now, he was Peter Parker.

 

One of the guys looked Peter up and down then kicked the kid on the ground in the ribs again. Peter heard them wail. He blinked once, took a deep breath, then clocked the dude closest to him with as much strength as he thought should be appropriate for a 15 boy, or maybe a teeny bit more than that. He fell like a sack of spuds. Peter didn’t think he was punched often.

 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” grinned another football player dude. Peter had named him Kyle in his head, after the “What the _FUCK_ is up Kyle?!” vine. It made him a lot less menacing. 

 

Kyle sauntered up to him. Peter noticed his rolex watch and figured it was too late for the pacifism route now. Kyle punched Peter in the face and Peter staggered. Kyle packed a goddamn punch apparently. Peter doubled over and coughed once, he really wanted to sell the act. He paused to let Kyle think he was Connor Mc-fucking-Gregor for a second, then he straightened up.

 

Kyle looked surprised he had recovered so fast. Peter heard the kid on the ground groan. Peter wiped the blood from his lip and looked at Kyle. Kyle charged towards Peter but Peter dodged and decked Kyle in the back of the head. He fought criminals all day every day, he had picked up a couple tricks

 

With two guys down and two to go, Peter was feeling good. He shook out his fist and looked at the two other guys. He spat the blood from his mouth and half smiled. Both of the boys paused for a moment.

 

“We’re not looking for any trouble dude,” one of them said. They looked at Peter like he was a feral animal. Peter figured Kyle must have been the ring leader. These two weren’t as brave as him. Peter looked at the guyon the ground again, he really was just a kid.

 

“Fuck off,” he whispered. The boys _ran_. Peter didn't like to admit, but it did make him feel kind of badass. 

 

With all the guys gone Peter diverted his full attention to the kid on the ground. His mouth was bleeding _so heavily._ One of his eyes was already starting to bruise and he Peter had _no idea what he was doing._

 

“Hey, hey. Fuck, what do I do. Fuck. I’m so sorry. What’s your name? Are you okay?” Peter felt the adrenaline and confidence from the fight drain out of him. Now he was just tired. He had no idea what to do and he couldn’t just ask Karen this time.

 

“Peter,” whispered the teenager on the ground.

 

“Yeah?” replied Peter on impuse. 

 

“No, that’s my name. I’m Peter” smiled the Peter on the ground. He seemed tired. There was blood staining his teeth. The Peter that hadn’t just been beaten up for being trans laughed.

 

“Me too,” he whisper-giggled. They'd be okay. Both of them. 

 

***

 

On shitty days, Peter liked to go home and take long hot showers. On the day of that attack he arrived home, in a hoodie covered in blood with a face even bloodier, to an empty apartment. He walked to the bathroom and stripped. He thought about rent again. It was possible that they could get evicted. They were _very_ behind. He got in the shower, turned on the water and shrieked.

 

The water was _freezing fucking cold._ Peter leapt out. They hadn’t lost their hot water in months now so Peter had forgotten to test the water. He groaned. Peter knew he had to wash of the blood so he took a deep breath, tried not to let any tears out and got in the goddamn shower. He showered quicker than he thought was humanly possible in the cold water and felt like he might cry.

 

The droplets stung his skin and Peter pressed his fists into his eyes. The days just kept getting longer. After his miserable shower he dragged his feet to his bedroom to get dressed.

 

Tony had designed so many things to help him thermoregulate, like a blanket and a brand new coat, but that night Peter slept on top of his covers. It was _too hot_ everywhere. Peter just wanted to not exist tonight. He had a nightmares about the rent tand none about the brutal attack he had witnessed earlier the same day. Peter thought there might be something wrong with him.

 

May came home late that night and sat above at the kitchen table for an hour, shifting through bills and budgets. She had been laid off of her second job and nursing wasn’t exactly enough money for both New York city rent and a kid with an enhanced metabolism.

 

It was Peter’s fault. He could only bring in so much money while he was underage. No one could legally hire him. He tried upping the prices on his ebay sales and spending more time on the street but the ends never seemed to _meet._  May had never asked for this.

 

Their water was cancelled altogether and the heat was long gone. They didn’t need the heating so much but the water was a problem. They needed water. May didn’t know what to do.

 

***

 

Peter showered exclusively at school that week, and the AcaDec members started to notice. Peter considered them all, even Flash, really good friends so when they asked why his hair was always wet at practise, he told the truth.

 

“Water got shut off so I’m showering here until it’s back.” Peter took his eyes off his hands for a second to look at Ned and MJ. They both looked back at him and gave tiny nods. He smiled at them. 

 

“Why is your water gone? Holy shit, were there like _chemicals_ in it?” Flash looked like he had just found gold. He really loved scandals and chemicals being in the city pipes would be pretty scandalous. Peter was reminded again that he was the scholarship kid because of course Flash would think conspiracy before poverty. Everyone else in the school was rich, you’d have to be to go here. It was just him, and the other three scholarship kids.

 

They were called Becky, Aishling and Khalid. There was one per year. All four of the scholarship kids met up for coffee every month. It had been a tradition since 1986. They were the ones who had made him comfortable with the fact that no, he wasn’t as wealthy as the other kids in the school but he deserved to be there just the same, if not more.

 

They also taught him that it was okay to make jokes about the fact that he was poor sometimes because no one else was going to do it.

 

“No, we just couldn’t … we couldn’t, um, afford the bill for the past few months. The water company said they’d give us back our water when we pay,” said Peter with his eyes glued to the table. He wasn’t ashamed, he really _wasn’t_ , it was just a bit shitty to be the only poor person in a room of rich kids. On the bright side, Flash suddenly looked very self conscious of his apple watch.

 

“Wait, so how are you getting drinking water?” asked Abe, ever blunt.

 

“Bottled water is still a thing, dude,” smiled Peter. The team laughed and they got on with practise. MJ didn't make him answer too many more questions.

  


***

 

Peter was with Tony and Bruce in the Avengers Tower discussing possible future renovations for the suit. He was mid-way through rewiring an iron man suit when he felt his phone ringing in his back pocket. He pulled his hands gently from the delicate wiring and swiped the answer button on the cracked screen.

 

The conversation was short and May was crying on the other end of the line. They didn’t have enough money for rent for the 4th month in a row. They were being evicted. They had to have all their stuff packed in two days. Peter was losing his home.

 

Peter thought of the dent in the wall from Ben’s flying tool and the stain on the counter next to the toaster. He thought of the chipping paint, the musty smells and the neighbours. It hurt Peter's chest, to know what he'd been working so, so hard to stop was just going to happen anyway. He threw his phone at the ground, not as hard as he could but hard enough to make Bruce look over. 

 

The phone’s screen was cracked into so many pieces, they couldn’t hold together when the phone hit the ground. Peter looked at the shards of resilient glass scattered around him, tiny triangles that looked like a trillion tree forest of glass.

 

He nearly started to cry, not heaving, body wracking sobs but throat burning, chest pulling, fiery tears of anger mixed with exhaustion. He shook out his hands, then his arms, then his head. Trying to make the burning in his eyes go away.  He knew this was coming, he just really didn’t want it to.

 

“Fuck,” Peter whispered.

 

Bruce, who’d been standing shocked at his station ran over and put his hand on Peter's arm.

 

"Peter?" The concern in his voice only made Peter feel worse.

 

Tony had no idea what to do. Bruce led Peter away from the glass and Peter sank to the ground. He wasn’t doing anything. He was just sitting with his face in his hands, trying to take deep breaths. Peter didn’t seem to notice them. Bruce sat next to him and didn't speak. Tony crouched down in front of him.

 

“Kid? Peter? Are you okay? I can get you a new phone,” Tony started rambling but Bruce shook his head and gestured to Peter.

 

It wasn’t a time for trying to fix things right now. There would be time for that later. He stopped talking and sat down at the other side of Peter. Everything was quiet for a while. Bruce and Tony tried to be patient with Peter. Tony tried so hard not to try to _fix it_.

 

“I couldn’t save us,” Peter whispered after a few minutes. He dragged his hands down his face then shook them out again.  “Me and May, I couldn’t save us.” 

 

“Pete, you gotta give us more than that, what happened?” Tony nearly pleaded. He didn’t know how to deal with such high emotion situations. He hadn’t exactly had the most emotionally available life.

 

“We’re being evicted,” Peter breathed. He nearly laughed at how absurd this was, he was sitting with his two idols talking about how he's being kicked out. 

 

“I tried to save us but,” Peter laughed quietly but it sounded like he was going to start crying. “I guess I’m not as smart as you thought.” Tony’s old and rusty heart shattered in his chest. Peter just wanted to be left alone. 

 

“You are _every_ bit as smart as I thought you were Peter,” Tony whispered back fiercely. There was silence for a few moments. Peter took deep and calculated breaths, as if breathing was taking so much _effort._ Then Tony looked up as if he’d had an epiphany.

 

“Peter, I can just buy the place, you know.” Peter went stiff. Bruce shot Tony a cautionary look. Peter shook off his arm and started to stand up and walk away. 

 

“Peter? Peter, where are you going? Didn’t you hear me? I said I’ll buy your apartment, hell I’ll by the entire apartment complex,” Tony called after him, scrambling to stand up himself. He didn’t know how to fix this.

 

“Jesus Tony,” muttered Bruce worriedly. Tony grabbed Peter’s shoulder and Peter whipped around, pushing him off.

 

“ _God,_ Tony! You just don’t get it!” Peter laughed and Bruce looked even more worried than he did 20 seconds ago. “What am I saying of course you don’t get it. I don’t want you to _buy_ my apartment, I want to be able to afford it _myself_.” Peter looked like he might start crying easily. His eyes were bloodshot and his fingers were twitchinh _._ Tony took a step back.

 

“I just want to be able to help her,” Peter said. He was on the verge of tears again but this time the tears despairing and short lived. Peter’s eyes looked all too like the ones of the 50 year old, bankrupt men Tony had to meet with sometimes.

 

“I’m sorry Tony, I didn’t mean to get mad,” he muttered from the ground. Tony had to take deep breaths to stop himself from crying. He had never been poor, never even come close. He just didn’t _understand_ and it frustrated him. He was trying, God was he _trying_ , but it was just so fucking _hard_. He didn’t want to fuck up this child in front of him even more.

 

***

It took a few hours of negotiation with May but eventually she agreed to let Tony buy the apartment. When Tony dropped Peter off, May’s eyes looked just like Peter’s and her pride looked crushed.

 

She says she'll pay him back every cent but they both know Tony won't be getting any money from her.

 

Tony bought the entire building and didn’t make any of the people pay rent. Peter cried but it wasn’t from happiness. Tony decided to make the “internship” paid. Tony did some research into the poverty cycle because he wanted to understand so he could fix it for Peter.

 

The next week’s newspaper headline says “Tony Stark Likes Poor People?” and Peter wanted to tear it up the second he sees it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of self restraint it to took to type office instead of study and apartment instead of flat is insane. Eamon De Valera is rolling in his grave
> 
> the amount of comments that made me cry. its high key why peter is a fuckin messs during this. sorry its so sad but i was (am) going through a dysmorphic thing rn. the next chapter wont be as melancholy yikes
> 
> Check me out on Tumblr if you want. I have like 60 followers and all of them are porn blogs
> 
> https://anotheraoife.tumblr.com/


	4. Four: With A College Fund

# 

**Four**

 

Ben had always wanted the best for Peter. He had grown up with Peter’s father, watching him get smarter and smarter, win more and more awards. Ben had been there when Ricky had tried to ride a bike then fallen and talked about how ‘if he adjusted the trajectory of the land the bike was on the likelihood of injury would decrease’. He had been there when Richard won the second trophy in the family. Ben had been first with a baseball trophy for star player of the season. Ben was the shoulder Ricky cried on when he realised their mom didn’t love their dad. Ben had been there when the college scouts came to their house looking for Richard. He had been there when Ricky was gushing about this amazing, unbelievably smart girl he had met at school called Mary. 

 

Ben hadn’t had an easy life. He had dropped out of high school, worked construction jobs for years until he joined the police force. He had never been the smart kid of the family, that was all Ricky. Ben was the muscle and emotional support. His family made him feel like a supporting character in his own life. When Peter was born, seven weeks early and  _ so small in Mary’s exhausted arms,  _ he swore that Peter would always feel like the centre of Ben’s universe, just like he had tried to do with Ricky.

 

Ben took Peter in after the crash. He and May didn’t even need to think about it. It didn’t matter that they didn’t have the space and it didn’t matter that they were barely scraping by as it was. The Parkers never went abroad. Even if they’d had the money for a holiday Ben couldn’t have beared to go near a plane, never mind get on one. They stayed in New York, it was their home and they were all happy with that. 

 

Ben had only  _ really  _ loved two things in his life after the crash. That’s what they called it, ‘the crash’. Ben couldn’t bare to call it anything else. He had made peace with Ricky and Mary’s deaths, just not with the plane that caused them. The two things he loved were Peter and May. He lived for the little moments with his mish-mash family. He loved them  _ so much _ , he was the one who had made Peter apply for the scholarship even though Peter kept saying he wouldn’t get it. He was the one who had encouraged May to follow her dream of nursing. He was the one who had worked extra shifts so Peter had enough money to buy the parts he needed to fix up some old gadget he found in the trash. He radiated love and energy and positivity. Peter had watched him bleed out on the filthy New York ground with a pizza box 4 meters away.

 

Ben had never gone to college, he hadn’t even finished high school. He told Peter all the time how much he wanted Peter to follow his dreams of saving the world, by going to college and studying something that would help him do it. Peter had decided on majoring in engineering and minoring in chemistry. Peter knew in his heart that they’d never have the $280,000 he’d need for a four year degree at MIT but he still stuck their poster on his wall. He heard May crying once at night because she knew they would never have that money.

 

Nowadays, Peter had accepted that MIT was out of the question, but Tony didn’t quite seem to get that. He was always asking Peter about college and offering to write letters of recommendation to anyone Peter could want. Peter wasn’t uncomfortable around Tony anymore so he made him write letters for Ned and MJ to help them get the summer internships they wanted. Tony called Peter a little shit when he realised that Peter wasn’t going to ask for one for himself. Tony was a strategist though. He knew he couldn’t force Peter into accepting his help so he gave it some time.

 

Tony had started using memes in everyday life to annoy Peter. He had joined Snapchat and became the fourth biggest account in eight hours. Apparently, the youths just loved watching Tony meme. Sometimes Tony would talk about Peter on there, never by name of course, but everyone knew him. Peter was known to the millions of people who watched Tony’s story as “the bestpacito intern around”. MJ cried laughing when Peter told her it was him.

 

Peter and Ned had lunch in the library with MJ most days. She had a lot more AcaDec work to do now that she was captain. They had a big competition in two weeks and they all wanted to win. When, not if, they won they would advance to internationals. Peter had already told Tony about it. He had talked about it alot in the past week and a half. 

 

On the Monday after Peter had given both Ned and MJ their letters written by Mr. Stark they had gotten onto the subject of college. Both MJ and Ned knew how much Peter wanted to go to MIT. They also both knew there was no way he could afford it, even with a full ride scholarship. 

 

They were talking about what they wanted to study when Peter mentioned that he was thinking about accepting Tony’s offer to pay for a small part of his college. He talked nervously about even accepting a tiny amount of money because  _ what if mr. stark things i’m taking advantage of him _

 

“Fuck that, dude,” said Ned. Peter blinked hard in shock. He thought Ned would be supportive of him trying to find a way, if unconventional, to get himself through college.

 

“Get him to pay for all of your college, all the other scholarship kid’s colleges and at least ten of the kids in other schools who couldn’t afford to be  _ here.”  _ Ned seemed so sure of this Peter was shocked. He had felt guilty even asking Tony to  _ chip in _ for his fund. “Peter, you’re allowed to accept his help. You deserve to go to the college of your _ dreams _ , maybe more than, like, basically anyone else here, if I'm being honest.”

 

“Yeah, I mean who’s it going to hurt? Certainly not him. And it will change the lives of like, 14 people  _ and  _ their families. I think you should at least  _ ask _ ,” MJ chimed in, looking up from her work. Peter thought about the other scholarship kids and their meeting at the coffee shop. He thought about how Khalid talked about his younger sister in third grade and how all he wanted was for her to live in a safer neighbourhood. Peter didn’t always appreciate how kind his friends were, but this wasn’t one of those times. He thought about how Tony would react and couldn’t picture him being anything but overjoyed.

 

“Holy shit I love you guys,” Peter whispered smiling.

  
  
  


Peter met with Tony again on Wednesday. Tony snapchatted him walking in with a duck emoji over his face because of last week's catastrophe that was caught on camera. It had gone:

 

“Nice suit Mr. Stark”

 

“Yeah kid, it’s only a prototype but it’s got 400 horsepower”

 

“Wow that’s like 7000 ducks”

 

Peter wasn’t overjoyed that his eternal shame had been captured on camera and seen by millions but even he had to admit it was funny.

 

“Hey Mr. Stark,” beamed Peter as he walked in, thankful as ever for the opportunity to work with  _ Tony Stark _ . Tony put down his phone and showed Peter what he wanted him to work on today. Tony and Peter talked as they worked but Tony noticed something was wrong that day. He tried to leave it, tried to tell himself it wasn’t his business, but he could only listen to Peter try to psych himself up in his head many times before he went insane.

 

“Okay kid, cut the shit. What’s going on with you today. I used nearly three memes wrong and you didn’t even mention it,” Tony seemed genuinely disappointed enough to make Peter laugh.

 

“Yeah you’re right, it’s just kind of hard for me to bring up.” Peter put down his work and started running his hands through his hair. “Alright , so me and my friends were talking and, honestly it was more their idea than mine, well that's not really fair for me to say. It was collaborative and I, um, like, well I, no they … ugh, I can’t even explain this well enough. Hold on a sec,” Peter pulled out his fourth phone of the year and opened the FaceTime app. He tapped MJ’s contact and pressed call. It barely had time to ring before MJ’s face popped up.

 

“Waddup, waddup my diddely dude,” she smiled. Everyone at school was either scared or intrigued by MJ but Peter thought he knew her quite well. He doubted she would show this silly, fun side to many people.

 

“MJ, before you say anything incriminating, Mr. Stark is here,” Peter tilted the screen so Tony was in the shot. Tony waved and MJ’s eyes went a lot wider than normal.

 

“Tony Stark! Hi, I just wanted to say that I really respect the attempts at reparations you’ve made for your actions in the past and admire you’re research in green energy,” MJ breathed, as if she had rehearsed it 1000 times.

Peter raised his eyebrows at MJ knowingly and she glared back subtly.

 

“Thank you,” smiled Tony “and let me tell you, from what Peter says about you, you have one hell of a future ahead of you. I would be honored to have you work with me someday.” MJ did what Peter knew he never would in her situation, she stayed composed and politely thanked Tony. 

 

“Hey, um, MJ. I was trying to talk to Mr. Stark about earlier, you know, in school,” Peter began. MJ understood quickly and launched into a polished speech on why Tony should pay for 14 people’s college educations in full, including room, board and money for personal expenses. She had a convincing argument. She was persuasive and confident. Peter thought she was doing  _ amazing _ because both him and MJ knew she had never prepared a speech and was making this shit up as she went along.

 

“So you’re asking me to pay for 14 stranger’s college educations even though it will serve me no benefit?” asked Tony. The two teens were silent. They hadn’t expected Tony to say no. MJ looked like she was ready to go off on Tony and Peter looked close to tears. He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up. \why would he think a  _ billionaire _ had time for  _ him _ , Peter Parker.

 

“I’m not a stranger,” whispered Peter.

 

Tony was silent for a few moments. With that silence Peter’s world came tumbling down. He felt his heart in his shoes.

 

“I’ll only do it if you make it 140 kids,” smiled Tony. If Peter’s heart was in his shoes a few seconds ago, it was in the stratosphere now. Peter threw his arms around Mr. Stark. Tony stayed frozen, he wasn’t much of a hugger. Peter stopped hugging him nearly as soon as he had started and was bouncing around the room like he was 7 years old again, ‘helping’ May and Ben carry his bed upstairs.

 

Tony didn’t forget how far Peter had come, to accept that he deserved to be helped. Tony felt like he actually might die for this kid,  _ his kid.  _ Tony took out his phone and opened Snapchat to start a video.

 

“You honestly thought I wasn’t going to pay for your college? That’s so sad Friday play despacito,” Tony looked at Peter and MJ’s matching shit eating grins and felt happier than he had in awhile.

 

“Shit, Peter we need to tell Ned,” called MJ’s voice from the phone in Peter’s hand.

  
  
  


Peter invited Tony, Ned and MJ over to his apartment to tell May the news. MJ and Ned got their early to help him decorate. They were planning to surprise her when she walked in. They had a banner on the wall saying ‘Peter is going to college!’. The letters got smaller and smaller the further left you went but at least they could _ sort of _ read it. 

 

Pepper showed up later with Tony and a cake. The cake was chocolate and had the MIT logo on it. May wouldn’t be home until 12 because she had to work two jobs at the moment. It used to be three but without rent, water and heat bills their expenditure had halved. Peter was thinking doon it might only be one, without the burden of saving for Peter’s college.

 

At 11:55 they turned off all the lights and hid. Then, at 11:57, Ned sneezed very loudly and Peter nearly lost his shit laughing. May walked in the door at 12:04 am. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds while May closed the door behind her, then, they all leapt out. Someone threw confetti on May and someone else flipped the lights on, off, on, off, on, off. The flashing lights hurt Peter but later he said it was worth it for May’s reaction.

 

She screamed and fell against the wall, clutching her purse, in her dirty scrubs. Peter watched as she read the banner and started sobbing. She hid her face in her hands while she cried. 

 

“Oh, May,” grinned Peter. He moved towards her and held her. ‘This was it,’ he thought. His dreams were being released around him.

 

“Peter, you asshole,” May laughed wetly. Tony called them all to the kitchen for cake. Peter explained what was going on and May started crying again, but somehow much more intensely,  when she saw the MIT logo.

 

“Ben would be  _ so proud of you, _ Peter,” she sobbed. That made Peter cry as well.

  
So there they stood, surrounded by people who loved them, eating really good chocolate cake and crying because _ Ben would be so fucking happy if he were here. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> why do i only post when the goblins are out tryna steal socks and shit? who the fuck knows
> 
> hit me and my 81 porn blog followers up on tumblr if you want (i'm prety sure theres like 6 real people now which is godamn wild)
> 
> i wrote out a bunch of my favourite comments and stuck them on the wall around my mirror so i don't hate myself too much and i just,,, like i know it only takes you a few seconds to comment but it genuinely makes my week/ month so thank you so much


	5. Five: With Plane Tickets

**Five**

 

School was hard for Peter. Not the academic parts, Peter took all the AP classes and had a 5.0 GPA without even trying that hard, other than study sessions with MJ that seemed to be happening more and more.

 

No, that side of school was easy for Peter. The hard part was the people _._ Peter never really felt like he _fit_. Everyone else was so happy and confident but Peter had to work up a nerve just to say something at his lunch table.

 

Peter felt like he was only friends with the people around him because they had to be friends with him. But they weren’t really _friends._ They’d never invite to their houses or actually want to talk to him.

 

Sometimes Peter thought he had no friends. Peter knew he and Ned were friends, obviously they were _friends,_ but sometimes he got worried that he was even annoying Ned. He got scared that Ned would realise how annoying and _clingy_ he was and then Ned would leave him too.

 

Ned was good to him though. When he saw Peter burrowing too deep into the ground of his own mind he always reassured him, talked about Star Wars and chemistry assignments and _anything_ to prove to Peter that he was worthy of friendship and love and happiness because for some fucking reason, Peter seemed the think he didn’t.

 

Ned knew Peter had been through trauma. A hell of a lot of trauma. The death of his parent, then uncle, then being scarred by having a building dropped on him, then living below the poverty line for a while, then the anxiety that everyone Ned knew went through. Anxiety was like a god given right of passage for Gen Z, or at least that’s what MJ said.

 

Ned likes to think he understood Peter, but then he went to Peter’s house and listened to gunshots outside that didn’t phase Peter and he got scared. Ned knew Peter didn’t think he belonged. All the other kids wore Gucci while Peter wore Walmart discount rail and ratty old hoodies. Ned liked to think he understood. He was gay and Not White, but he was also wealthy and had pictures of his family hanging on the walls of his home.

 

Peter was getting better recently though. His friends from Academic Decathlon and Stark Industries made him feel valuable. He has rejoined band. He played the piano. The music teacher was ecstatic when he said he was thinking of coming back. Peter found piano easy and everyone said he was extraordinarily. Ben used to love listening to him play the cheap keyboard they got for half price on a Black Friday Sale. Peter smashed the keyboard to pieces a few months ago on one of the bad days.

 

He didn't mean to.  

 

He played for Tony a few weeks back. Tony cheered and roared and Peter blushed an insane shade of red. MJ once showed the AcaDec kids a video of Peter playing a complicated song and Abe called him Elton John for three days straight without stopping once. Peter thinks it’s because Elton John was the only pianist he knew.

 

Peter’s AcaDec team really made him feel like he belonged. There were only six of them now. Next year there would probably be a lot more because of the incoming class, but at that time it was only Ned, Peter, MJ, Flash, Abe and Betty. Flash was still the first, and only, reserve but he wasn’t still bitter as hell about it.  Once he and Peter had started to get along he realised he only wanted half the shit he did to beat Peter.

 

The AcaDec team was like a second family to him. He loved them all, but you could only stick so much of your family, no matter how much you love them. Peter’s Flash tolerance was nearing its limit. They had been meeting in the library at lunch and after school everyday for nearly a week straight. Internationals were coming up and they _had_ to win. MJ talked about how good it would look on her college applications.

 

Peter didn’t think it was smart to mention that she had a recommendation letter from Tony Stark, who was widely regarded as the second smartest person on the planet. He used to be considered the smartest but Princess Shuri of Wakanda was out there, kicking ass and known being recognised for it. Tony had met her and happily admitted she was smarter. He said he thought Peter would be able to hold his own with her. He even offered to set up a Skype meeting.

 

Everyone on the team was stressed about internationals, even Abe, who never seemed phased by anything. Peter thought it was a good opportunity for a stress reliever.

 

Peter had the idea to go on a team outing. He had saved enough money from his eBay, internship and side jobs to do something fun. After brainstorming with the team they decided on going to a rollerskating ring, like the absolute nerds they were.

 

They went on a Saturday. It wasn’t busy at all because it wasn’t the 90’s anymore and people just talked on Snapchat now. There were light blue beams shining over everything. It made Peter feel like he was in a cloud. The roller skates were a bit too big for him but his balance was impeccable after the bite so he looked like he was gliding instead of skating.

 

Peter skated around the deserted ring, violet and baby blue strobe lights dancing around him. MJ watched from the other side with Flash and Betty trying to catch up to her while laughing. His hoodie swamped him and made his shoulders seem so soft. MJ wanted to try to use them as pillows. They might be as soft as the cloud they were all skating in.

 

Peter looked at MJ, in her jean jacket and gray leggings, looking over at him with her hair all around her like a physical manifestation of all her crazy ideas. He never actively thought about how stunning she was, it was always just kind of in the back of his mind. But there, with MJ in her element, skating circles around the others, he couldn’t think of anything else.

 

He thought his chest might burst with all these _feelings_. Peter skated over to her. He was grinning without realising it. The lights danced over her face. MJ has freckles. Peter hadn’t known that. She was skating around the ring the way a faerie would fly through a field of daisies.

 

Peter skated up next to her. They rolled alongside each other slowly. Flash and Betty zoomed past but MJ and Peter weren’t in any rush. Peter heard Ned laughing somewhere far away but he and MJ were in a cloud, and somehow the cloud was underwater. Nothing could find them here. Peter thought he might be having a heart attack. That would be the kind of thing his heart would do, the bastard.

 

Peter was so lost in his own thoughts he almost didn’t notice MJ take his hand. But then she did and it was like god had looked down and chosen Peter to meet Jesus himself.

 

Ned screamed again somewhere in the distance. Peter hasn’t realised how fucked he was until MJ took his hand. If she asked him to chop off one of his feet and eat it with lemon juice he would ask which one.

 

What Peter didn’t know, was that MJ was _shrieking_ inside. This was probably the third best day of her life, after the day her brother was born and the day the Editor for The New York Times liked her article on intersection feminism’s place in academic universities on Tumblr. Today was coming dangerously close to knocking one of those days down to number three.

 

Peter and MJ got pulled into getting a pizza with the rest of the team and had to let go of each other’s hands, but Peter thought he might just drop dead. This was it. His life had peaked. Nothing could top this.

  


The day after the skating, something came close to topping that. Peter was working with Tony. He was still dreamy and dazed and Tony easily noticed. He knew Peter well after all the time they spent together.

 

“Hey Peter,” he called across the lab. Peter just hummed in response. “I’m Skyping someone right now and I want you to meet them,” Tony continued. He picked up his computer and walked across the lab, plonking himself down next to Peter.

 

“Peter, meet Princess Shuri of Wakanda, widely considered the most smart person on this planet,” laughed Tony.

 

Peter look up from his work. “It’s smartest, not most smart Mr. Stark. You should know that. You’re the second smartest person on this planet,” Peter grinned, looking over at the screen. When he saw Shuri with her phone out, recording, and realised that Tony wasn’t actually joking he nearly screamed.

 

“Oh my god, that’s going on my Vine 2.0 account,” laughed Shuri.

 

Peter, Tony and Shuri talked for nearly two hours. Shuri looked shocked when Peter corrected her and suggested improvements that neither Shuri nor Tony had ever even considered. When Peter started to talk about ideas of his own Tony was speechless. He hadn’t even realised that he didn’t ask Peter about his own original ideas, just asked for advice and renovations on his. He had underestimated Pete. He didn’t think that was even possible considering how highly he thought of the kid.

 

After the call finished and Peter had added Shuri’s private Instagram and Snapchat, Tony sat Peter down. Tony was pissed, because if Peter had the opportunities other people had he would’ve saved the world using science at age nine. Then he would've become a superhero. Who even _was_ this kid?

 

“Peter, remember when you were nearly evicted and I said something like ‘You’re every but as smart as I thought you were’?" Peter nodded, confused. "I was wrong. You’re a hell of a lot smarter.”

  
  


Peter knew things had been going too well for him. Nothing ever went so well for so long.

 

Peter was sat on his and May’s sofa with his head in his hands and a letter on the coffee table.

 

It had the bill for going to Belgium for the Academic Decathlon international championships. It was over $2000 for the flight, accommodation, food, travel and so many other fucking _useless_ things. Peter could never scrape that together fast enough.

 

His phone was blowing up with texts from the team but Peter just needed to be alone to process that his dream was fucked. It wasn’t happening because he couldn’t _afford_ it. Peter shut his phone off, wrapped a blanket around himself and put Brooklyn Nine-Nine on the tv. Peter felt tired. What was the point. He needed the money in three days and he knew all May had saved was $400. Peter was tired of fighting.

 

May came home and lay with him. She didn’t ask what was wrong. When Peter didn’t show up to work with Tony the next day Tony did ask.

 

He showed up to Peter’s apartment in a Versace suit because he _could_. May was gone to the hospital for her ten hour shift, spent saving the lives of people who would never even remember her face. Because that was the kind of person May was. Peter hadn’t moved from the couch for nearly 16 hours.

 

Tony let himself in when no one answered the door and sat next to Peter.

 

When he asked what was wrong, Peter looked at this billionaire in his shitty apartment, sticking out like a sore thumb, wearing fucking _Versace_ , and he just cracked.

Y

Peter cried. He wasn’t numb this time. He figured that was healthy but he didn’t really give a fuck if him crying over his dream being obliterated by things he couldn’t control was healthy or not.

 

He knew that they could have scraped the money together with more _time_. Tony listened and let Peter cry on his shoulder. When Peter was done and not as tired as before, somehow, he pulled out his wallet and smacked $3000 down on the table. Peter didn’t speak.

 

“Holy shit, Mr. Stark that’s a lot of money to just have on you in this neighbourhood,” Peter sniffled, _staring_ at that much money.

 

“Which pussy ass bitch is going to try to mug Iron Man,” Tony smirked. Peter didn't think he knew what 'pussy ass bitch' meant. 

 

“I’m pretty sure them trying to mug you would make them not a pussy ass bitch, Mr. Stark,” Peter smiled a small, rueful smile. It was the kind of look he got when he was about to deny something he needed because of some stupid moral code that made _no sense._

 

“If you don’t take the money I’m burning it.”

 

It took bargaining, a promise of less memes (that would 100% be broken) and Tony pulling out a lighter but eventually Peter took the money. Tony said the extra $1000 was for spending. Peter managed to force $700 of it back at him. When Tony asked why Peter didn’t ask him for the money in the beginning Peter said he forgot he was allowed to do that. Tony didn’t know that could happen.

 

When May found out she cried too. Peter was going to Belgium with his Academic Decathlon team to compete in internationals. Peter was going on a plane again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a long heartfelt note then the entire thing deleted itself so thanks I genuinely think these comments are impacting me so well I’m clinically depressed and I can feel motivation fleeting it may be a few days and I do t have a word count for this chapter so sorry if it’s short


	6. Plus One

**Plus One**

 

Peter hadn’t flown before, plane tickets were pricey and Ben had a fear of flying that May said they couldn’t do anything to change. Then he flew to Germany and May cried because his first flight was without her and  _ what is something goes wrong that boy is all I have.  _ She didn’t let Peter see her cry, not that it would change much. May cried a lot more after Ben’s death. She’d burst out in tears spontaneously sometimes. Peter was used to it. 

 

Peter was excited during his first flight. It was quick and lonely and his eyes were closed for most of it because  _ holy shit we’re high.  _ Besides, it’s not long there was anyone there to talk to. Happy hadn’t cared about him back then. 

 

This flight would be with his friends, laughing and joking, to a place he wasn’t even (that) scared to go to. Peter wanted to enjoy this flight.  Even if he did have to get up at 5am and ride a bus in New York traffic to get on it

 

The airport was smothering and scary. Peter had never been to one before. Flash and Ned both got pulled over for “random checks”. The security had them packed in like sardines and Ned kept whispering puns in Peter’s ear to keep him calm. But they made him laugh loud enough to have all the grouchy TSA glare at him. 

 

Ned and Flash both got pulled over for ‘totally random checks’. Ned to Hawai’i and Flash to wherever the fuck his family wanted. Neither of them looked surprised. They were both frequent flyers. MJ looked tired as she gave them a thumbs up before walking through the detector. She was surprised when nobody called her for a check. 

 

When it was Peter’s turn to walk he was terrified. He didn’t have to do this for Tony because it was Tony’s private jet. He knew he hadn’t done anything  _ wrong  _ but he was still scared. What if they could tell he had Spider DNA? What if Peter had 17 pounds of cocaine up his ass  _ right now  _ and didn’t even know it?!

 

He walked. He didn’t get called for a random check. He got his bag and waited with Betty, MJ and Mr. Harrington for the others. MJ seemed a little angrier than before. 

 

The shops were big and Mr. Harrington was sure everyone would get lost so instead of shopping, everyone got Starbucks together. Betty had the most complicated order but she rattled it off like she’d learned it when she was 6. Peter got a black coffee and MJ got hot chocolate. 

 

They boarded the flight together. Peter shoved his bag into the overhead. Everyone else had paid to have theirs checked in. He sat down next to Flash and MJ. Ned was sitting further up. Flash and Ned had been pissed when they were assigned their seats and had agreed to switch seats once the plane was in the air.

 

Peter felt nervous but he wasn’t  _ scared  _ scared yet. His leg was bouncing and MJ seemed to be getting concerned. He couldn’t stop thinking about the plane crash that killed his parents. He had spend hours upon hours watching every single conspiracy video out there about it. He had seen the picture that every YouTube video used.  Peter saw the picture of himself, unnamed, aged seven, dressed in a too big too black too cheap suit and looking confused at his own parent’s funeral. One of the main things that fueled the conspiracy theories was that Peter’s parents were only ever publicly named ‘government officials with a seven year old son on confidencial business for the state’.

 

Peter knew Ned and MJ knew how it happened but all everyone else on the team knew was that he had dead parents. MJ knew was that it was a plane crash. Ned knew every gory detail from when he used to have to comfort Peter back when they were 10. Ned didn’t think it was fair, how shit Peter’s luck was. He couldn’t tell if Peter being _ the  _ Spiderman made up for his shit luck or made his luck ten times shittier. 

 

It was pretty awkward when an opposing team’s supervisor would come up to  _ him specifically _ after a match and say how proud his parents must be. Peter and Ned laughed but the rest of the team looked to be in physical pain. Then he’d tell the person and they also looked to be in physical pain.

 

Everyone used to know Peter as the kid with dead parents back in elementary. Sometimes Peter thinks the only reason he makes sure his grades are always high is so he’s known as Peter the Nerd not Peter the Poor Kid With Dead Parents who deserves everyone’s pity. 

 

It wasn’t the kind of thing they discussed at lunch.

 

“Hey, how was your last class?”

 

“It was chill also my parents died a horrifying death in the fiery remains of a aircraft when I was 7. What’s on the cafeteria menu today?” 

 

No. Before high school, if people were  _ really _ curious they asked, and Peter told. It’s not like he was ashamed of having dead parents. This wasn’t an anime, it’s not like it was some huge secret. He said the two words, plane crash, then people were sad for a little while. They moved on and Peter got some pitying glances whenever a teacher asked about parents. But that was before high school happened. 

 

When you go to high school in New York you’re a nobody or a god. Liz was a god. Peter was a nobody. At best he was known as a very smart and  _ very  _ awkward kid whos uncle died in front of him or something like that last year. Ned said they were nobodies because people thought they were nerds but Peter wasn’t stupid. He went to a school specifically designed for nerds, rich nerds. Peter only fit half that criteria. He wasn’t bullied or made fun of by anyone other than Flash and it was pretty easy to hold his own against  _ Flash _ . Nobody wanted to be the dick that made fun of the scholarship kid, but no one wanted to be the person that hung around with the scholarship kid either. 

 

People asked to be with him for group projects and smiled at him in the halls sometimes if they were acquaintances but that was it. Nobody cared about him enough to ask how his  _ parents died _ . Besides, it wasn’t much of a conversation starter. Peter was pretty sure no one except some of the kids in his classes even knew they were dead. 

 

It was  _ always _ awkward when it was brought up in class. The teacher would ask what everyone's parents did, not because they cared but because it was coursework. They’d get answers like ‘neurosurgeon’ and ‘Anesthesiologist’ then it would be Peter’s turn and there would be a small awkward silence.

 

Peter would give an empathetic smile to the teacher and quietly say “Both my parents are dead miss, but my uncle works as a policeman in the day time and a security guard some nights. My aunt works as a nurse and fits in shifts working for the city when she can.” That would add another layer of awkward because everyone would be reminded that Peter didn’t have nearly a much money as them. Peter wasn’t bothered by it much anymore. He stilled loved and missed his parents but he only really had about 8 memories of them. It was hard to miss someone you didn’t remember.

  
  


The plane was taking off and Peter wasn't prepared for how _terrifying_ it was. When he was with Happy he wasn’t even scared. Tony’s plane had left the ground smoothly and silently. This plane was _not_ doing that.  This wasn’t fair. If his hands had started to shake the first time and his eyes had started to burn the first time no one would have been around to see it. This wasn’t _fair_. Now he couldn’t think of anything else. _Flash_ _was sitting right next to him_. He couldn’t do this right now.

 

Peter clenched his fists around the plane seat. He didn’t want to die. He was Spiderman for fuck’s sake. He couldn’t go out in a  _ plane crash.  _ His fingers were starting to misshape the chair when MJ noticed. 

 

“Pete? Peter are you okay?” MJ was looking at him like he was  _ a child. _ Peter could practically hear her brain clicking it into place. “Shit, Peter your parents-” 

 

Peter cut her off by nodding vigorously. His throat might be closing and  _ oh god  _ **_may_ ** and Peter is scared. In that moment there was no Spiderman, there was just a throat terrifying a mind, lungs on fire and eyes squeezed shut because  _ maymaymay what will she do without me this can’t happen _ . 

 

Then Flash noticed. “Oh my god Peter, are you actually afraid of flying? You’re such a pussy,” Flash laughed quietly. He wasn’t even trying to be mean, it was just how he and Peter were with each other. MJ and Flash could both hear Peter trying to breath, see him sucking so desperately. 

 

“Peter, Peter, oh my god , holy shit Peter you need to breath,” MJ was getting scared.  _ ‘Woah, MJ! Breathing? I hadn’t thought of trying that one out yet! _ ’ thought Peter in the back of his mind. MJ being a tiny bit scared was making him  _ terrified _ . Peter let out a tiny, animal whine and put his chest to his lap. MJ looked scared and Flash realised something was wrong. Flash looked and MJ and started to panic. 

 

“Shit, shit, fuck Peter I’m sorry, fuck, are you _ okay _ ?” Flash started panicking. MJ punched him in the arm. The plane was pulling itself off the ground and Peter was  _ shaking _ .

 

“He’s having a panic attack  _ dumbass _ ,” hissed MJ. Flash had the decency to look ashamed as well as confused.

 

“No I’m  _ not,”  _ Peter choked out. He hadn’t had a panic attack since he was 11 and her was _ not  _ going back now. “ _ I’m not.”  _ Peter sounded broken. MJ rubbed his back and helped him through the whole thing. Later, when Peter asked her how she was so good at it she stated she had anxiety, generalised anxiety disorder, and depression, major depressive disorder, along with some other shit, as she called it. She stated it, she didn’t confess it or mention it. She stated it.

 

Once it was all over Peter was exhausted. MJ said it had only been ten minutes. The flight was seven hours long and Peter planned to sleep for eight of them, but he understood that Flash, and possibly MJ, wanted an explanation. He opened his eyes again and was met with both Flash and MJ staring right at him. They quickly looked away and pretended to be doing other stuff. Truly, exemplary actors. 

 

“Okay, an explanation,” yawned Peter with a small smile of acceptance.

 

“You don’t have to give us one. There’s not always a reason,” MJ jumped in. She seemed worried. Peter felt guilty for worrying her at all.

 

“Yeah, no. Peter what the  _ fuck? _ ” Flash narrowed his eyes and even looked a bit annoyed, but Peter knew Flash. Flash was scared for him. Flash had gotten  _ worried  _ for him. 

 

“Careful Eugene, it almost sounds like you care,” Peter was exhausted and could barely keep his eyes open but even like that, he just couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease Flash.

 

“Fuck  _ off, _ ” Flash was back to normal all of a sudden. Peter figured the sooner he explained the sooner he could  _ sleep _ .

 

“Okay, so you know that plane crash that happened in 2010, the one all the conspiracy theorists talk about?” Flash and MJ nodded. It was one of the biggest conspiracies on YouTube. “And you know that sad ass picture all the videos use of the couple’s kid at the funeral?” Flash and MJ nodded again, this time looking more confused. Peter could tell they were wondering what that had to do with Peter Parker’s Plane Panic Party (as Peter was now calling it in his head) “Yeah, well I’m the kid.”

 

It took a second for them to comprehend the statement but once they did Peter remembered why he and Ned always laughed at the people they told. Flash looked like he had just shit bricks. MJ looked even more surprised than she did when she walked in on him in his bedroom sitting on the ceiling. “This is only my second flight ever, and I don't even  _ really  _ count the first one. It was on a StarkPlane and they’re, like, god tire. No noises, no movements, nothing.” MJ and Flash stayed silent. “Cool, cool, cool. So I’m gonna sleep now,” smiled Peter. This wasn’t an unusual reaction. His parent’s deaths were one of the biggest conspiracies out there, up there with the flat earth theory and the illuminati.

 

Peter woke up hours later when the flight attendant shook him. Now Ned was where Flash used to be. The plane was landing. Peter was too tired to even worry. They arrived at the airport. The wait for everyone else’s bags wasn’t too long. Peter made Betty take a picture of him underneath a sign pointing towards baggage claim for May. Everything ran smoothly and they were on a cramped stuffy bus to a hotel in no time.

 

They were only going to be there for three days, including travel days, so Mr. Harrington had a jam packed itinerary. Their first stop was the  Square de l'Atomium museum. Everyone went crazy for it, one of the perks of being in a nerd school is they always got to do nerdy things on school tours and everyone  _ loved  _ it. Peter didn't even mind the $17 admissions fee like he normally would.

 

They went on a 2 and a half hour guided walking tour. Their guide was called Manon and Abe kept joking with her shyly. Peter could practically see the heart eyes in real life. They passed through the LGBT district and Ned, MJ, Peter and Betty went crazy. They got pictures in front of every mural with their pride flags. Peter got a snapchat video of MJ “hitting that whip” with a pan pride flag around her like a cape. Betty took another photo of him in front of a huge bi mural, striking a VapeNation pose then Peter took one of her in the T-Pose with an ace flag. Flash was looking hilariously uncomfortable, in a polite way. 

 

The team got waffles and Mr. Harrington got more than a couple beers to ‘calm his nerves’. Abe asked the practice question of the hour- a new tradition started by MJ- to the group. 

 

‘Another verb for getting someone drunk?’ he grinned in Mr. Harrington’s direction. MJ answered first with ‘inebriate’ because she was a vocabulary goddess.

 

They got back to the hotel and MJ convinced Mr. Harrington, who was more than a bit drunk at that point, to let everyone stay in the same room. Her main arguing point was heteronormativity. Peter was pretty sure he had visible heart emojis around his head while looking at her after that.

 

All six of them were set up in the three bed hotel room, with the blankets on the floor. They were drunk on youth. Peter knew there was an important event that they had to be at for  quarter to three  tomorrow, but he also didn’t care right then. Peter had never really understood what people meant when they said to ‘live in the moment’, what other way was there to live? But in that hotel, surrounded by 15 year old kids who considered themselves the future, Peter didn’t comprehend that there was anything other than this moment.

 

In those  early morning hours, looking at Tumblr together with MJ quietly whispering  “ I need a man to support me at my worstpacito, not just my bestpacito. Is that too much to ask ?” , Peter was just Peter. Not the scholarship kid, not the kid with only one family member left, not the kid from the Stark internship, certainly not Spiderman and not any other version of himself. He was just his thoughts and his words and his actions and his deep, slow breaths.

 

Later that night, hyped up on sugar, they hack Tony to prove a point to Flash. MJ had the  _ genius  _ idea to have Friday blare All Star by Smash Mouth for two hours to get revenge for all the cringe worthy attempts at memes Tony had made. Programming Friday was easy, then they had to find Peter’s fake internship file to prove that Peter actually did work with Tony. That’s when it went to shit, hilarious and inconvenient shit.

 

They were just meant to just click the fake file but  _ shockingly _ Parker Luck had Ned click the real one and immediately show up with everything Spiderman related, including pictures of Peter in the suit without his mask. It went over fairly well with the team. That is with everyone except Flash. Flash freaked the fuck out.

 

“How the FUCK have I been stanning  _ Peter fucking Parker?”  _ he’d cried in outrage. It was hilarious. Everyone had questions, mostly about Spiderman’s twitter account. Peter confessed that yes, it really was run mostly by Karen. But it was also just his quotes. Abe laughed until he cried when he realised Peter had actually said  _ out loud _ everything on that account.

 

Peter thought that if they had found in any other setting than the alternate reality of a crowded hotel room at 5am, it would have gone differently. Peter and MJ went down to the lobby to get some food for everyone from the diner across the street. 

 

It was a 24/7 place and had an indie vibe that Peter could tell MJ loved. There were blue neon lights on the walls and dark wood tables. The diner had palm trees in the corners and black wood floors. MJ said it looked like Bobby Burk designed it. Peter went t the counter to order while MJ snagged a table in the middle, near the door.

 

Peter ordered enough food to take away that the waitress had to make sure she had it right three times. While they waited they talked about the video of Peter yelling “Yeet!” as he swung himself between buildings that had gone viral and other things Peter had done as Spiderman.

 

It was quiet around them. All they could hear was the buzz of neon and the chatter of people at the counter and in the booths. There was maybe thirty people here at most. Peter really wanted to put his hand on MJ’s cheek and kiss her. Her skin looked so  _ soft _ . He wasn’t really in his right mind at the time. He was leaning forward in his chair. Then he heard a scream behind him. 

 

All hell broke loose. There men rushing in taking hostages and putting knives to as many people’s necks as they could. Peter and MJ both got swept outside with the remains of a  panicked crowd. Peter ran into the alley beside the diner and shoved his hand into his bag. He pulled on his makeshift spiderman mask that he brought with him, just incase. 

 

MJ appeared at the exit to the alley, blocking Peter’s way out. Her eyes went wide when she saw the mask.

 

“Peter, you dickhead, don’t,” MJ’s voice wobbled and she looked scared. MJ knew he was Spiderman, but she wasn’t like Ned. She knew he was in danger a lot, her brain hadn’t processed that he could die. Peter didn’t even have his suit. He was wearing an old, grey hoodie and joggers from goodwill.

 

“Stay here, please. This is just another day for me,” Peter tried to sound comforting but it was hard when he was so scared. People in Belgium didn’t know him, what if they thought he was with the guys holding the hostages.  _ He didn’t even have his web shooters what would he do this was a bad idea oh god _ \- MJ moved aside. Peter ran towards  the diner.

 

***

 

It was over quickly. Peter was never good at remembering fights, he was ran entirely on adrenaline and instinct. Peter didn’t think too much when he fought while scared, he just did. He remembered running inside. He remembered the sound of a knife slashing through the air. He remembered a knife pressing against his ribs and a thin line of blood. Then he was surrounded by unconscious bodies and  _ he didn’t know how they got there _ .

 

He didn’t think people in Belgium were used to superheroes. The hostages were huddled in a corner and  _ god fucking dammit Peter was shaking again.  _ He had to leave , before the police showed up to ask questions, but a shaking woman approached him. She had mascara running down her face and her eyes were red and puffy. She was stuttering and stumbling and  _ shaking so bad, nearly as bad as Peter. _

 

“Thank you,” she choked. Her hands were shaking like crazy. Peter took her hand in his own quivering hand slowly and gently and hugged her. He could feeling her breathing sporadically again his chest. She slipped a piece of paper into his hand. “A cheque,” she whispered frantically. “I want to reward you.” Peter looked down at the piece of paper. When he saw the amount of zeros on it started trying to shove the paper back to her. 

 

“No, miss, I can’t take this. I can’t take this-” Peter was starting to freak out. Spiderman didn’t take money from strangers, definitely not _ that  _ much money.. That just wasn’t  _ right.  _ She cut him off.

 

“Go, go now. The police are coming.” Peter tried again to give her the cheque back but the sirens were in the distance. 

 

“Please, I can’t take this from you,” Peter pleaded. 

“Oh please, it’s not like I don’t have plenty money already,” the woman scoffed, as if even the thought of poverty brought her out of shock for a moment. She put her hands on Peter’s chest and shoved.

 

“Go, the police in this part of Brussels won’t take well to you being here.” And Peter left. He stumbled out the back door and tore the mask of her sweating face. When he got back to the hotel room it was already on the News. Everyone’s heads turned to the door  it opened. Flash looked scared and MJ was crying. Peter noticed he was still bleeding. Ned ran forward and hugged him  _ so tight.  _ Peter knew he was getting blood on Ned’s pajamas

 

“You didn’t have your suit you fucking  _ idiot,”  _ Ned’s voice wobbled as he spoke. Sometimes Peter forgot that there were people who loved Peter more than Spiderman _.  _ Everyone got up to hug him, even Flash. Flash didn’t even whisper ‘no-homo’ as they hugged. MJ was the only person who hadn’t hugged him. She stood by her bed looking over. She walked over until she stood directly opposite Peter. 

 

“You’re okay for tomorrow?” she asked, emotionless with tear tracks on her cheeks. Peter nodded. Everything was silent for a few moments. Peter couldn't bear it. He launched his body towards her and wrapped his arms around her neck. She hugged back just as tight as Ned.  He didn’t tell anyone about the cheque burning a hole in his pocket

 

They got up at two o'clock. Peter still hadn’t mentioned to anyone, not even Ned, the money. Everyone who arrived at the International Academic Decathlon Championships felt  terrified, except Peter. It was hard to care about a lot when you have the  _ option  _ to become a millionaire. MJ had been running drills the entire bus journey. There was nothing else they could do.

 

They walked in confident and sat around their table. The competition started.

 

Peter hardly even remembered any of it. He let his mouth and body take over. He answered question after question without stopping. While the other teams were choking under the pressure Peter was hardly even breaking a sweat. He knew what he was doing wasn’t healthy but he couldn’t help it, not giving a shit about  _ anything  _ was benefiting him this time. He had other things on his mind, the decathlon wasn’t first priority, and when Peter got out of his own head he became another person. You could see it when he was Spiderman. When Peter wasn’t worried about being a good version of Peter he was  _ astounding _ .

 

Peter’s team won by miles. Everyone except Peter cried. Peter could have  _ so much money _ . He had to find the woman so he could give it back.

 

When they got back to the hotel that night, after handshakes and congratulations and a record number of awkward moments when Peter told people his parent were dead (yes he and Ned kept count, who’s asking?) everyone headed down to the pool. MJ said it was to honour Liz, Abe said it was because she wanted to see Peter’s abs. They kept forgetting he had super hearing.

 

Peter couldn’t swim, they didn’t have the money or time for lessons. He lay on his back, floating in the pool. He lost all sense of direction and could just barely hear the others sitting on the steps. There was no time, no space, just Peter and his thoughts.

 

He thought about the other scholarship kids, of Leilani who was a senior last year. She took out so many loans to afford her dream college that she was now bankrupt, after less than a year. He thought of Charlie from three grades above him in elementary, who killed himself two years ago. Charlie was always so  _ kind  _ to Peter. He hadn’t had insurance and couldn’t afford his prescription anti-depressants. He thought about Tommy, Ben’s friend, who had lost his house after coming back from Afghanistan. They hadn’t seen him since they helped him pack up his life into thin, cheap cardboard boxes. 

 

He thought about the woman he used to pass  _ every single day  _ on the way to the subway and how every week she seemed to have less clothes on and less flesh on her bones. Peter used to buy sandwiches to share with her. She hated beef. She disappeared in July of last year. He thought of every single person in his life who had been fucked over because they just didn’t have the money to stop it.

 

Then he thought about himself, who was top of the class in maths because he had been adding numbers in his head since he was seven. And who had lost  _ too much weight.  _ And who had never seen a hundred dollar bill in real life before he met Tony.

 

He thought of the terrified woman who had just snapped out of it for a moment because he implied a lot of money to himself was also a lot of money to her. And he said fuck it. What to do with the money was decided. MJ swam over to him, he could feel the currents holding him moving. 

 

“Hey, you were incredible today,” she whispered to him. Peter turned his head to her. Hi face was half underwater, half distorted and wavy an blurred, and half above, clear and sharp and with vision good enough to be able to count MJ’s freckles and eyelashes. 

 

“I’m a millionaire.” Peter whispered. MJ laughed.

 

“Yeah, me too Peter,” she smiled ruefully. Peter told her  _ everything,  _ including his plans for the money. She nearly screamed in excitement. 

 

On the way to the airport the next day MJ helped him pick out the places he wanted the money to go and figure out how to do it. They decided on paying off  _ all  _ May’s loans. MJ suggested buying her a house but Peter knew May. He knew how she cherished their apartment and all the memories they’d made there. She’s never want to move and they already owned the place thanks to Tony.

 

They decided on anonymous donations delivered and signed by Spiderman with statements enclosed. MJ and Peter stretch the money across as many charities as they can but even so much money can only go so far. Peter set aside money for the

 

The flight home was full of brainstorms between Ned, MJ and Peter. MJ showed them some of her most recent portraits.

 

“Frida, I’m coming for your brand,” was a line from MJ that Peter seriously considered painting on a shirt.  Half way through his phone dinged with a message from Tony.

 

_ I watched the tournament on instagram live _

_ I’m proud of you Peter _

 

The message had a link with it. Peter turned the video down low and the trio huddles around Peter’s cracked phone.

 

“Spiderman, is one thicc bih, lemme, see that spussy.” the video had a picture of Peter bending over in the suit from behind. Ned laughed so hard he nearly cried, MJ called it an outdated meme and whipped out a counter meme to send back of the same format, replaced with Tony. Peter would rather have his eyes gouged out with a spork than see the word ‘stussy’ again. When Peter got home he started writing the letters.

  
  


Spiderman giving the  _ millions _ he received from a very rich woman he saved to charities was all over the news. It was a Twitter Moment. May said she had never been prouder of him. What none of them knew was that Peter had given Leilani money to get her out of bankruptcy and back into, and through, college. And that Peter had slid an envelope with a letter and money through Charlie’s family’s postbox.

 

***

 

Days passed without any contact from Tony. That was, until Peter was walking home from patrol and stopped at Mr. Delmar’s for a sandwich. He glided in cheerful as ever. Mr. Delmar looked sorry for him from over the counter. 

 

“Tony Stark is in the back. He told me to tell you to meet him back there.” Mr. Delmar looked apologetic for having to tell Peter. Tony must’ve been mad. Peter just nodded and headed back.

 

When he entered the small, dark room Tony had his back facing Peter.

 

“Months Peter, I’ve been offering you money for _months_ ,” Tony whispered sadly. Peter didn’t know how to make him _understand_. He couldn’t make Tony understand the fear of asking or the _constant_ fear that comes with the unstability. He couldn’t give Tony the nights of tears or the _goddamn shaking hands._ He didn’t know if he could even start to explain everything to Tony, but he could damn well try.

 

“His was different.” Peter’s voice was so small in the musty room.

 

“ _ How _ ?” Tony whipped around. He was desperate and angry. He looked so hurt and Peter didn’t understand why. “Peter, I have  _ billions _ . Why won’t you just let me fucking  _ help you?”  _ Peter paused to think about what he was about to say. He realised he no fucking clue how to explain any of his fears to Tony.

 

“I don’t know … I don’t- Tony I just don’t _know.”_ Peter wanted Tony to just know what it was like, how dangerous it was to accept money from people who expected a lot from you. He didn’t want to make Tony regret him. Tony walked forward and hugged Peter while he sniffled. Peter said he didn’t cry and it only sounded like he did because he was sleep deprived. Tony called him a lying little shit. They talked, and they talked some more, and they talked some more. Tony _tried_ to get it but he didn’t completely understand. Peter accepted that that was _okay_. 

 

Afterwards, Tony doubled all of Peter’s donations and made a couple of his own. E also reached out to hire Ned because it took a lot of nerve and a lot more skill to hack into Tony’s systems and have All Star blare for hours on end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof sorry for the wait
> 
> top released new stuff i love it clancy is my soulmate
> 
> i physically cannot communicate how good comments make me feel but imagine like a bajillion heart emojis
> 
> my tumblr (now at least half not porn blog followers) is anotheraoife because we love a brand queen
> 
> i'd like to say this took so long because i was editing it but irl i just watched like all of shane dawson's videos for the past year and a bit and im high key not sorry

**Author's Note:**

> yurt. Please comment please im begging you literally just write "lolz this was dandy" and i'll be happy . Honestly though thatnks for reading k thanks bye (thanks you so much!)
> 
> I used to have a link here begging for money but some pussy ass bitch reported me


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